Tata Motors, the country's largest auto maker by revenue, seems all set to increase the prices of its passenger cars by around 1 per cent from January 2014. Also, sources close to the development process have revealed that the auto maker is currently busy in studying the market conditions for its commercial vehicle business for the same purpose, but in a later stage. Expressing his views on this, the Spokesperson of Tata Motors was quoted as saying, “While there is to be about 1 percent hike in our passenger vehicles pricing, the commercial vehicles business continues to review the situation and will take a call subsequently.”
It must be noted that Tata Motors has an array of passenger cars and heavy duty commercial vehicles, which it markets in the Indian auto market. The passenger car portfolio of Tata Motors includes models from entry level hatchback to utility vehicles. Its lowest priced offering is Nano, which is offered with a tag of around Rs. 1.5 lakh that further goes to Aria, priced around Rs. 15 lakh (all prices are ex-showroom Delhi). On the same lines, the country's largest passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited also announced a price hike from January, which was then followed by Hyundai India. The reason cited for the price hike by Maruti Suzuki was increasing cost of inputs.
Also, Honda Cars India declared an increase in the prices of its entire product portfolio from early January 2014, in order to compensate for the impact of unfavourable exchange rate. Interestingly, the news of price hike is not just prevalent in the mass car segment as luxury car makers like Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are also following the same path.
